Off to Girl's Camp

I'm off to girl's camp this morning and won't return until Friday. I hope to enjoy being with the girls once again. I know I'll enjoy being with the other sisters. I always do.

I Need Thee Every Hour

Today our choir sang I Need Thee Every Hour with an accompaniment by Suzanna and Jasmine on the violin. It was so beautiful. Not everyone was there to sing, but it was alright. I swear there are unseen angels that sing with the voices that are physically there. At times I hear them sing and it sounds great, but then there are times like today when I get goosebumps because it is celestial sounding. I love those beautiful voices that come to practice and then in turn perform. Just so you know, being part of the choir is one of the most rewarding things I've ever been involved with in the church.

Thunderstorms

After some intense storms yesterday and lots of potentially wild weather, we were blessed with this sight last evening. It was such a bright rainbow.

This is a shot of the sky off to the west. The clouds were beginning to clear and the sun was trying to come out.

We had inches of rain. So many inches that I had water standing in my garden.

When a lot of rain falls in a short time, there is always a puddle on the neighbor's lawn. This puddle was so large that it was on our lawn as well. as a kid we would have gotten out bikes and ridden through all the puddles while the last of the raindrops fell on us.

As you can see, the rainbow was "full." So often when there's a rainbow in the sky, we see only the ends of it, but not last night. We were blessed to have safety throughout all the storms that came through our area.

The Velvet Dress

When I was a little girl about 3, my mother sewed a red velvet dress for me. The velvet was so soft and I remember LOVING that dress. Well, I still have it. Cami tried it on this morning but didn't end up wearing it to church after all, which was okay with me since it's really getting quite fragile. Clare wore it for Christmas when she was 3. Therefore, I can officially say that this is a 3 generation dress. I don't know what I'll do with it other than take it out of my closet and look at it from time to time. It reminds me of my mom and if for no other purpose, I'll keep it for that reason. Yes, I am sentimental underneath all my brassiness.

Good-bye Old Friend

I should know by now that there is nothing that we own that is off limits to Craig's list when the price is right. Yesterday our motorcycle was posted on Craig's list and this afternoon a stranger drove off on it. We enjoyed it for nearly 5 years and we actually came out really great on the deal. Now to find another to replace it. We don't ride enough, but I will miss it until we get another one.

I am....

I read Jenni's post and decided to take the challenge myself. I am different things to different people and so here goes my list. There are more, but this will do for now.

I am

a wife

a mother

a grandmother

a daughter

a sister

an aunt

a coach

a team mate

a seminary teacher

an organist

a choir director

a friend

a blogger

an official

a volunteer

a bill payer

a mother of a missionary (which helps with the next one)

a budgeter

a sweetheart

a snuggler

a listener

a talker

a cook

a planner

a housekeeper

a gardner

a dishwasher

a cleaner

a neighbor

a seamstress

a singer (only for myself)

a barber

a painter

a clothes cleaner

a babysitter

an office clerk

a fan

a chauffer

a message taker

a shopper

a mother-in-law
a visiting teacher

a believer

a follower of Christ

a daughter of God.

With all the things that I am, I should get a raise.

A Night Away

Yesterday my sweetie and I ventured south for some time away that was totally job related. I drove a pick-up truck to Milwaukee for another church employee who had his totaled in a tornado on Monday night. We had lunch with the Barretts which was absolutely delightful. On the way to Milwaukee I got pulled over for speeding through Kiel. Fortunately I had an officer who took pity on me as I just told him I was trying to keep up with my husband. He let me go and told me to slow down and not speed through Kiel or I'd be toast.

After lunch we headed south to Chicago to go to the temple. A very small session, but so nice to be in the temple. We stayed overnight in a place where each "room" is it's own building. As I looked through the brochure I was amazed to see some of the suites had their own private swimming pools within their rooms. We had a hot tub and a fireplace in ours. Interesting that there was an emergency switch on the wall if you needed the police/ambulance, but no phone in the room. We had ice cream at Baskin Robbins which is always yummy.

This morning we headed to Rockford for a meeting with HR for the custodians to take an outplacement package from the church as all custodial positions are being eliminated. No fears here as the mechanical positions are NOT being eliminated. In fact the HR representative told us he hoped Pat wasn't taking the outplacement package.

Now we're driving to Wisconsin Rapids to check on the youth at youth conference before we head home to celebrate Tom's birthday. Even though the two days were filled with work-related events, we got to spend the time together which is always wonderful. The longer I'm married to my wonderful husband, the more I love him. I believe that's the way it is supposed to be.